We hope you've had a wonderful holiday season! We didn't have any of our family members travel to China to celebrate with us for Thanksgiving or Christmas, but we enjoyed the times with our friends here. It is always nice to share the meanings behind the various Christmas decorations and symbols with our friends who come over during December.
We get the most questions about our Little People nativity set. (Hudson's t-shirt says "Jesus loves you.") Christmas decorations are becoming more common all over town but it is always trees, wreaths, bells, Santas, gifts and lights.
Molly was so excited when her preschool started decorating for Christmas. She gave me a daily progress update on how many trees there were in the classrooms and hallways, and talked about making ornaments during craft time in class. One day as we were walking home, she announced: "Mom, my teacher doesn't know that Christmas is Jesus' birthday!"
The children's preschool was decorated to the hilt. Molly asked me to come inside and take pictures when I picked them up, so I obliged and then understood why she wanted me to see it. Tinsel and lights and trees EVERYWHERE.
On Christmas Eve, the preschool hosted a party at 4:00 in each classroom -- I started out in Hudson's room while Kevin went to Molly's, and then we switched halfway through. It was very different than an American preschool party, mainly because it's a party for the parents more than the kids. There are games for the parents to play and the kids come up in groups and sing or dance, and then the parents are invited to join the dancing and sing a song with their child.
The above picture doesn't do it justice, but I had to offer photographic proof of the first game in Hudson's class, which was for the moms/grandmas. They tied balloons to their ankles, and the object was to pop everyone else's balloons while protecting yours. I didn't volunteer to participate, but it was hysterical to watch. The moms took this game very seriously - at least one was wearing high-heeled boots! - and the Christmas tree in the corner of the room was knocked over twice. All the kids were cheering on their moms, and it was great fun.
I went up to Molly's room and watched her sing two songs with her class. Meanwhile, Kevin was in Hudson's class participating in the game for dads/grandpas: musical chairs with the kid-sized preschool chairs, of course. How I wish I could've seen that! He made it three rounds.
The video above is a clip of Hudson singing with his classmates. (At the end, they are saying thank you to the audience.) His teacher also asked me to prepare a song to sing together with Hudson and Molly in front of his class. We sang a medley of "Joy to the World" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." Next time we should sing a song in Chinese instead.
We spent Christmas Day at home together, opening stockings and gifts before Skyping with our families. (IKEA had rolls of wrapping paper! We had lots of candy-cane covered gifts to open.)
I made sweet potato casserole as a side dish for lunch, which was hawaiian pizza. (It is possible to order turkey from an import store, but it is something like $5 a pound. Our Chinese friends have no idea what it's like to eat turkey.) We waited until Sunday, Dec 29 to share more of a traditional holiday meal at the home of our Canadian friends: baked chicken, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, corn, meatballs and gravy. We have been spoiled these past few months with many delicious, homemade meals with them.
We wanted to share some scenes of our Easter day. Here's our best family photo -- sorry it's a little blurry. (Getting the kids to sit still is next to impossible.)
Molly & Hudson were excited to wake up to new Easter baskets! Kevin's mom sent a box last month for his birthday and included a few Easter surprises, including these baskets, plastic eggs, Easter pencils and a puppet glove craft. I added toy binoculars, Dove chocolate and cute socks.
We headed to our International Fellowship and had a very special worship time. Kevin ended up being in charge of children's church and took the opportunity to record an Easter message from Molly and Hudson. They send a shout-out to our Texas church, Bridgepoint Fellowship, but also include "all people" and "everyone in America."
After fellowship, about 14 of us went to lunch together at a nice Western restaurant nearby. I ordered penne pasta, the kids shared beef fajitas and Kevin had a hamburger. Quite the varied menu!
Then our family rode with Paula and Sherri to the orphanage. Hudson had just fallen asleep in the car as we pulled in, so he and I stayed outside while the rest spent about an hour with Teddy. (Sadly, the orphanage only allows Paula to see Elizabeth once a month now. They say it upsets her emotions too much, but we are praying for breakthrough here.) Kevin played five games of Chinese "go" with Teddy.
Pictured above: Sherri, Teddy, Kevin and Molly. Teddy is in the same room as this little girl Molly and I spent time with on our last orphanage trip. So Molly enjoyed trying to play with her again.
When we got home that evening, we had fun watching the kids hunt for Easter eggs around our living room. Molly was particularly inspired to sing a few songs before bedtime. This is "Amazing Grace," sung with gusto:
And I'll close with her rendition of "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" -- although clearly we need to do a better job of teaching her the lyrics.
Thanks in part to the Chinese Spring Festival holidays, we loved the chance to be able to travel in February. Whether playing at a neighborhood park or swimming in a hotel pool
or building a snowman or playing at the beach, we were able to make great memories! Thanks to the generosity of both of our parents, we were
able to spend four days at the beach in Cancun with Dayna’s family.
Molly and Hudson were ready for the Cancun beach!
Of course, the kids weren't the only ones ready for the beach ...
Dayna's family met us in Cancun. Our kids were thrilled to play at the beach with their cousins and grandparents.
Dayna had been dreaming of swimming with dolphins all of her life, and of course, Molly and Hudson wanted to swim with a dolphin too, so we all met Daniella the Dolphin and her baby with great expectation ... although Hudson got too scared to interact with the dolphins when we were all in the water. So sadly, we didn't get any pics with Hudson, but Molly sure had fun!
And then, less than a week later, we were back in the snow in Tulsa ...
Christmas is two weeks away, and this year, it truly is a white Christmas. Temperatures have been below zero. So it's a little cold and a little slippery, but we are very blessed.
We started celebrating a little early this year, since my (Kevin's) parents were able to join us mid-November. Almost everyone who comes to our apartment comments how warm it is. It's comfortable whether wearing short or long sleeves.
Many of the artificial trees for sale here are gold, red, blue, hot pink or white, but we were so thankful to find a vendor who sold us a green Christmas tree. The kids were really excited for us to put it up as soon as we brought it home.
We were able to buy some ornaments here; my mom helped the kids make more. My parents brought the children's nativity set, which is to the right of the tree. The nativity is fun for the kids, and it's also a great conversation starter with friends who come for a visit. Also, the organization we're with performed a drama about the first Christmas in Bethlehem. Many people know about Santa Claus and Christmas trees, but few know the true reason for the holiday.
Hudson and Molly made quite an impression as sheep. I played the role of Gabriel; I opted to forgo the halo.
It was hard to keep a straight face when I startled the sheep with good news of great cheer, but Hudson was very gracious. He told me later, "You were a good angel, daddy." Well, they did an even better job as sheep.
I was glad to be able to share more about the good news of great cheer at the end of the drama. For many in the audience, this was their first exposure to Bethlehem and a baby born in a manger.
Like kids in America, our kids can't wait for Christmas. All and all, they are doing very well. They have won many hearts here in China.
Kevin's parents arrived this morning, and we are loving the time together! We bought a Christmas tree
yesterday to decorate together this week, and Molly and Hudson have
already been making ornaments with Gram. I'm so blessed to have a
mother-in-law who brings crafts and paint and beads for them to enjoy. (They packed two 50-pound suitcases entirely
full of gifts and goodies for us and put their clothes and toiletries in
their carry-ons. Amazing!)
After eight months of virtual visits, it's fun
to watch Molly and Hudson read books to Gram and Granddad, show them all of their
favorite toys, and run over for hugs. We have so much to be thankful for this year. Happy Thanksgiving! ~Dayna
